We often think of Lent as a time to give something up: meat, chocolate, Facebook, unkind words, you name it. The idea is that if we give up something, then it will help us to be more reflective about our spiritual journey. In that sense, giving up chocolate may not help. I want it, I can't have it: bummer. end of story.
Jesus makes it clear: "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). So Lent is a two step dance: turning away from the old (saying no) AND ALSO turning to the Lord (saying yes). Lent is about re-turning to right action. In that sense Lent helps us to do what Jesus said at the beginning of his ministry: "Repent and believe in the good news" (Mark 1:15). So if giving up chocolate helps you to follow Jesus, so be it.
In Isaiah, God tells us about fasting: "Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?" (Isaiah 58:5-7).
Lent is call to liberation from whatever has you down. And it is also based in concrete action so that others may also be free. To follow Jesus is to be free. And none of us are free if one of us is bound. Following Jesus may be as easy as sharing bread with the hungry. (Hooray for Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday!) This is the fast that I choose.
Hungrily,
David
online journal of First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine Iowa
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Our Ministry at Carrington Place
On Sunday, February 14th, I participated in the 2:00p.m. worship service at Carrington Place. The people who gather on the second Sunday of every month appear to enjoy worshipping together; it is a blessing to participate in this aspect of our church ministry.
On this particular day however, one participant was lost and calling. She was a thin elderly woman asking for her mother. I sat with her, held her hand, and was pleased to feel her relax and appear more at ease for the duration of the service.
She sang along to some hymns that were familiar to her, occasionally humming through the spots where words once were.
I haven't experienced the loss of my mother yet, so I can't imagine what that loss feels like. How can words possibly express such an event?
The poet W. H. Auden wrote the following, certainly one of the best attempts in words to convey the loss of a loved one:
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let airplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song:
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can every come to any good.
But we remember that Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Our ministry matters, especially for the weary and grieving who are lost and searching for peace and rest.
On this particular day however, one participant was lost and calling. She was a thin elderly woman asking for her mother. I sat with her, held her hand, and was pleased to feel her relax and appear more at ease for the duration of the service.
She sang along to some hymns that were familiar to her, occasionally humming through the spots where words once were.
I haven't experienced the loss of my mother yet, so I can't imagine what that loss feels like. How can words possibly express such an event?
The poet W. H. Auden wrote the following, certainly one of the best attempts in words to convey the loss of a loved one:
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let airplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song:
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can every come to any good.
But we remember that Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Our ministry matters, especially for the weary and grieving who are lost and searching for peace and rest.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A Powerful Missionary Statement
After serving two terms in the Georgia state legislature, Jimmy Carter ran for governor and was defeated in 1966 by Lester Maddox, whom he described as a "notorious segregationist who threatened with a pickax handle any potential black customers who approached his restaurant in Atlanta for service."
In his 2005 book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, Carter goes on to say that his faith was shaken by the victory of such a person. What did it all mean?
His sister told him that this tragedy should be the impetus for increased devotion to Christian living. Shortly afterwards, he began missionary work with another volunteer in the Springfield, Massachusetts area witnessing to many families from Puerto Rico. His volunteer partner was Rev. Eloy Cruz.
Carter reports that he was deeply moved by the way that Rev. Cruz connected with people and talked about his faith. When it came time for Carter and Cruz to go their separate ways, Carter asked him how he was able to be such an effective teacher.
Cruz replied, "You only need two loves in your life: for God, and for the person in front of you at any particular time."
This is one of the most powerful things that I have every read. From time to time, I think about this story and pull Rev. Cruz's mission phrase to the forefront as a reminder of how to be a better witness in everyday life.
With regard to Jimmy Carter, we know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Carter has achieved many things in his life, including the Nobel Peace Prize. And yet, after all of the time that has passed and all that he has done since 1966, he still recalls and holds up Rev. Cruz's simple and powerful words as a profound example of Christian living that has made a lasting impression upon his life.
I don't think that I'll forget them either.
In his 2005 book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, Carter goes on to say that his faith was shaken by the victory of such a person. What did it all mean?
His sister told him that this tragedy should be the impetus for increased devotion to Christian living. Shortly afterwards, he began missionary work with another volunteer in the Springfield, Massachusetts area witnessing to many families from Puerto Rico. His volunteer partner was Rev. Eloy Cruz.
Carter reports that he was deeply moved by the way that Rev. Cruz connected with people and talked about his faith. When it came time for Carter and Cruz to go their separate ways, Carter asked him how he was able to be such an effective teacher.
Cruz replied, "You only need two loves in your life: for God, and for the person in front of you at any particular time."
This is one of the most powerful things that I have every read. From time to time, I think about this story and pull Rev. Cruz's mission phrase to the forefront as a reminder of how to be a better witness in everyday life.
With regard to Jimmy Carter, we know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Carter has achieved many things in his life, including the Nobel Peace Prize. And yet, after all of the time that has passed and all that he has done since 1966, he still recalls and holds up Rev. Cruz's simple and powerful words as a profound example of Christian living that has made a lasting impression upon his life.
I don't think that I'll forget them either.
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